Essential Design for Making a Room Feel Bigger

Written by M. Akamatra

Last Updated: 08 October 2018

Hello darlings!

If there is something that owners of tiny homes or studio apartments struggle with, it is how to make the rooms appear larger. Naturally, the only way of doing that is to modify the property’s layout by knocking down one or two walls. That, however, is a costly and time-consuming option. Luckily, there are other ways of making it appear bigger than it is. All you need are just a few creative designs to actuate such an impression. If you are working with a professional, they can definitely help in making the property more attractive. If on the other hand, you are not, keep reading for some serious room design tips. Below are several essential designs that you can borrow.

Use reflections

A fascinating trick to make a room seem large is by using light reflecting surfaces like mirrors, glass tops as well as glossy paint finishes. If you strategically place mirrors along the walls, it creates the illusion that the room extends beyond the wall. Similarly, applying reflecting paint on your ceilings makes the room feel taller and uncluttered. The skill lies in identifying a focal point towards which you will angle all the mirrors so as to produce the depth effect.

Go big

As ironic as it sounds, introducing an oversized household piece in a room that has modest-size furniture can indeed make the room feel spacious. For instance, you could add a huge portrait, painting, dramatic curtains, or long curtain rods. What you are doing here is playing with scale by adding something big amongst tiny pieces. Such a design dupes the brain into believing that the room must be spacious for it to accommodate such big pieces. It also leads the eye to go up visually, making the ceiling feel more spacious than it is.

The human eye instinctively tends to follow the light and avoid shadows. Besides, light opens up a room and makes it feel widespread, livelier and less constricting. Put this knowledge to good use by illuminating the room to eliminate shadows. An ingenious way of doing that is by having at least three light points preferably table and floor lamps in each chamber. Alternatively, you could ensure that all the ceiling fixtures lead or direct to the cabinets and walls. Moreover, do not restrict yourself only to artificial lighting options. Instead, also consider natural solutions like installing large windows and doors on your property.

Go for multifunctional furniture

As mentioned above, at times your furniture takes too much space. It would, therefore, be unwise for you to have many pieces, some of which you might not even use. Prudent reasoning dictates that you go for multifunctional pieces that you can use for more than one purpose. Fortunately, the market is awash with such households that are convenient for studio apartments. For instance, you can invest in a sofa that doubles up as a bed, or a coffee table which you can also use as a chest. Similarly, you can get expandable and foldable items like dining tables, which you can conveniently tuck away when you are not using it.

Color variations

House paint has a way of eliciting different moods and feelings. For instance, bright hues stimulate a sense of warmth and can make the room feel sunnier and bigger. Furthermore, they are reflective, which means they can arouse the illusion of space. If you have excellent painting skills, you can, therefore, play around with a variety of colors to come up with stunning and spacious rooms. For instance, you could apply varying shades of the same color on your walls, or use pale hues such as light gray, white, cream, or pale blue. All these variations can produce an expansive room effect for your property.

Rearrange the furniture

Any seasoned homeowner will tell you that how you arrange your furniture pieces determines whether the property looks airy or fit to burst. For starters do not put too many furniture pieces in the room. Instead, just stick to the basic items such as a large sofa and a matching coffee table. Secondly, arrange the pieces smartly. Avoid shoving the furniture against the wall, or sprawling them all over the room. Instead, float or angle them. An ideal design could be angling the bed in the bedroom, and floating the sofa in the living room.

Define focal points

A fun and elaborate way of making the property seem large is by designing several points of interest in the apartment. For instance, you could use hanging flowers, cabinets, and area rugs to define the different sections in the room, to make it feel spacious. Still, you could raise the bed to create additional storage space underneath it.